What Not to Discuss at the Dinner Table
by Zeionia aka Disturbed
Summary: A year after the last battle, it's time for the survivors to remember their losses with ceremonies, memorials, and too many grandiose speeches. Too many officials and not enough rooms leads to the younger generation spending a lot of time together. A lot of frank discussion and a little bit of culture clash happens along the way. Not Destiny Compliant, Slice of Life, Pre-Slash


Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam Seed nor do I make any profit from this fanfiction.

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What Not to Discuss at the Dinner Table

by Zeionia a.k.a Disturbed

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Summary: A year after the last battle, it's time for the survivors to remember their losses with ceremonies, memorials, and too many grandiose speeches. Too many officials and not enough rooms leads to the younger generation spending a lot of time together. A lot of frank discussion and a little bit of culture clash happens along the way.

Additional Notes: Slice-of-Life, Not SEED Destiny Compliant, Pre-Slash

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Athrun knew it was on purpose. They were all the same age, attending the same memorial events, and space was at a premium during a function like this, even in Orb. But someone really should have thought about what it meant to have the legged-ship's youngest volunteers, the last remnants of the Le Creuset team, Cagalli Yula Athha, and Lacus Clyne shoved into one, admittedly well-appointed, room for every meal and momentary reprieve between speeches.

There had been no end of screaming matches. Yzak and Cagalli both had miserable tempers and were able to drag everyone into their arguments, and about the only person Kira wouldn't jump to defend was himself, so everyone else had to do that for him. But no one had been shot or, as Dearka said to the great indignation of the _Archangel_ crew, ineffectually stabbed, which meant no one in Orb had bothered to correct the situation.

Over the course of the week, they had reluctantly gotten to know each other a little better. Rather than sit in stony silence broken only by Haro and Birdy's excited electronic exchanges, they had slowly opened up about the last year. Unsurprisingly, the eight of them had very different perspectives on what were often the same events. And it turned out they were all desperately curious to know how one another had ended up fighting on different sides of the war.

But what Athrun and his (former?) teammates, and Cagalli too for that matter, all wanted to know was how exactly Kira, a Coordinator from Orb, had ended up as a pilot for one of the Atlantic Federation's classified mobile suits. Miriallia's dry "it is literally all your fault" and Sai's reluctant "it really is mostly your fault" were not sufficient.

After several exchanges of what was probably classified information, Kira finally, hesitatingly explained the circumstances that culminated with him piloting the Strike the first time. As he listened, Athrun was horrified to realize that it really was his and his team's fault that Kira had to fight them at all.

"And the code wasn't that far off from what we were working on in class, so it wasn't that hard to rewrite. Then there was the fight with the Ginn that self-destructed. And that was it really," finished Kira.

Athrun had seen the footage from Miguel's Ginn. Everyone on La Creuset's team had. He couldn't blame Yzak for his incredulous look. Athrun hardly believed it himself.

"Wait, what class?" said Dearka. "I thought Miriallia said you were working at Morgenrote?"

The woman in question flicked him on the side of the head making Dearka splutter. "We working in the labs as part of our class," she huffed. "How many times do I have to say it? We were just normal students before all of this happened!"

"But—but you had to have had pilot training at some point!" protested Yzak loudly. "Ordinary civilians don't just win against experienced Ginn operators in their first engagement! No matter how exceptional the equipment."

Kira stared helplessly down at the table. Whatever confidence possessed him in battle was nowhere to be found now. Athrun thought about mentioning their shared experience at military prep school on the moon. But Yzak and Dearka would have gone to similar programs in the PLANTs. They would know there wasn't any combat training until you actually committed to a military program.

Yzak was turning an interesting shade of purple at the realization he had hounded and been defeated in battle by a civilian. Even Dearka looked like he had bitten into a lemon.

"What the hell? Were you specced for combat or something?" asked Dearka.

Kira went white and flinched away.

Athrun himself saw red. "Dearka!" he barked.

Yzak had almost jumped out of his seat. He looked appropriately betrayed and disgusted. "Dearka!"

"Mr. Elsman, that is a most inappropriate thing to say," scolded Lacus.

Dearka flushed with genuine embarrassment. "I apologize, Yamato. It just slipped out."

"It's fine," murmured Kira even though it was very clearly not.

"What just happened?" asked Sai.

Athrun realized that Kira's Natural friends and Cagalli were all staring at them with identical mystified expressions on their faces.

Kira cleared his throat. Athrun glanced to the side and saw his friend's eyes were closed tightly and his shoulders were tensed with resolve.

"Asking about a Coordinator's design specs is a lot like asking a Natural if their parents had them on purpose," said Kira in a rush.

"Oh," said Sai. He looked faintly amused.

Athrun realized that Dearka's comment must not have registered as rude to the Naturals at the table. For all they knew, Coordinators would compare DNA structures all the time. Athrun felt his cheeks pink at the very idea. Luckily, he wasn't the only one still red in the face.

"It's a very personal and intimate question," said Lacus primly. "Many married couples don't discuss their specifications with each other until they choose to have children. Mr. Elsman was being quite rude."

"I said I was sorry!" protested Dearka. "I really am sorry, Kira."

"Don't worry about it," said Kira sounding a little more firm this time.

Kira's friends still looked amused. Yzak looked like his head was about to explode, which was pretty much how Athrun felt about the situation. Except some traitorous part of Athrun's brain was now very curious indeed about his friend's specs. Because Yzak and Dearka were right. Even a civilian Coordinator would lose to a Natural mobile armor pilot if they were just tossed in a mobile suit and told to fight.

In contrast, Cagalli had a distressingly thoughtful look on her face. "The DNA-profile the Yamatos registered is probably false, since Kira's real specs are classified."

Kira dropped his head to the table and buried his face in his arms. Athrun knew he had to be as red as his ZAFT uniform, and he was pretty sure he saw Yzak swooning in the corner of his eye. Dearka let out a choked wheeze.

"Oh my," said Lacus faintly.

"Maybe we should talk about something else," suggested Miriallia, who was eyeing Dearka with honest concern.

"Please," whispered Kira with his face still covered.

Athrun patted him gently on the back trying hard not to stare or think about anyone's specs. Kira was going to have a hard life with a sister like Cagalli.

Later, after the group had dissolved to attend to their duties or take advantage of their still rare and precious down time, Athrun found Kira on the roof staring out at the sunset over the ocean. Birdy was darting through the air in slowly dimming light. It let out a pleased chirp and circled around Athrun then back to Kira before returning to its antics. Athrun joined Kira at the railing, letting their shoulders brush together, and feeling himself relax when Kira leaned in rather than drawing away.

It was Kira who broke the silence. "Cagalli wasn't wrong. I'm going to need to have my DNA sequenced."

Like a Natural, he didn't say, but Athrun heard it anyway. How embarrassing for an adult Coordinator to need to go through such a procedure.

"Do they offer that in Orb?" asked Athrun though obviously they did. Naturals screened for genetic diseases as closely as Coordinators did. A trained Coordinator would be able to identify abnormalities in Kira's genetic makeup more precisely. But from an emotional stand-point, it would be easier for Kira to have DNA-testing done here, among Naturals, rather than in the PLANTs.

"Yes, but there aren't that many Coordinators, even in Orb," said Kira. "Would you…"

Athrun felt Kira shift at his side. He turned his head and found Kira already looking at him.

In his memories, Athrun had always thought of Kira as delicate. It seemed absurd, now, when his friend was one of the best mobile suit pilots on Earth or in space. But in this moment, Athrun felt his thoughts were justified. Even Kira's look of determination seemed exceptionally fragile.

"Athrun, would you look over the results with me?" asked Kira.

Athrun's eyes widened involuntarily and his breath caught in his throat. His nerves buzzed and sparked like he was going into battle. His rising blush matched the one on Kira's face. Yet somehow, Kira kept his gaze steady and refused to look away.

"Yes," blurted Athrun. "Yes, I'd—I'd be honored." He lay his hand over Kira's and said, "Maybe we could compare it to mine?"

Kira's joyful smile was tinged with teary-eyed relief. He twined their fingers together. "Sounds good, Athrun."

Athrun used their joined hands to pull Kira just a little bit closer. "Yeah. Sounds good, Kira."

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End.

I love characters learning the motivations for other characters' actions. I don't care if it's not probable.

It was just supposed to be a slightly humorous short about cultural differences between Naturals and Coordinators. There have to be some real doozies, or else Naturals who live in space would probably side with the PLANTs after Junius Seven.

But then Athrun and Kira got all emotional as they do. (Kira Yamato is the Usagi Tsukino of the Gundam Universe. Who's with me on this?)

Thanks for reading! Please review.


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